STEM TIME in ROOM NINE!!!

WOW!  We made it through the first three weeks 

and are finally settling into our regular daily routines!

This year we have added a Stem Challenge to our math rotations once a week!  

Our first challenge was a fairly easy challenge from our Building and Design Center Task Cards. 

Kids worked in groups to build the tallest tower they could with the materials their group was given.  When they were done they recorded their work in their science journals. 
They were so proud of their work that we decided to take photos and add them to the journals as well.

Our second challenge was a little more difficult. We had been reviewing the letter A at the beginning of our third week so we decided to tie our stem challenge into our review of A. 
First we watched the book I Saw An Ant on the Railroad Track by Joshua Prince on YouTube. 
You can read the book as well but our students loved watching it on the smartboard.

After listening to the story our students were asked to design and build a tool that would allow them to move an ant from the railroad track without touching the ant with their hands.
Since this was our first time using our Maker Space boxes for building we decided to let each student try the challenge on their own. 
This way they were able to take the tools they made home to share them with their families.

To challenge our students more we told them they had to use at least 3 materials to make their tool.  We gave them 9 materials to choose from:  Scotch Tape, Masking Tape, Rubber Bands, Pipe Cleaners, Foil, Popsicle Sticks, Tongue Depressors, Cotton Balls, and Paper Plates.  

They worked diligently for their entire math rotation and came up with the greatest tools!

If you are interested in our STREAM bulletin board letters you can grab them here for free! 
We also have Engineering Challenges for every letter of the alphabet if you are interested,
just click here!